Page 2859 - Week 07 - Thursday, 7 June 2012
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
project that costs almost $300 million. Half of this money comes from the ACT government’s purse—spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a freeway, instead of investing it in sustainable transport. Last year’s budget papers make this clear. Over the period of the 2011-12 financial year to the 2014-15 financial year more than half of the new capital works expenditures announced under the TAMS Directorate were allocated to the Majura parkway project. This year’s budget papers show that proceeding with this freeway project leaves very limited funds for other new TAMS capital works initiatives in the coming years.
Let me move on to waste. A really striking example of what I have been talking about is waste. The government has increased its target for the quantity of waste going to landfill per person from 0.7 to 0.9 tonnes for this financial year. Given that the ACT is already one of the most wasteful jurisdictions in Australia, we are very disappointed to see no serious budget commitment to waste reduction and recycling in the ACT. Instead, we are going to be digging a big new hole at a cost of $20 million. We could be investing that money on new initiatives to prevent us from generating the waste in the first place, creating new, sustainable jobs and using scarce resources more wisely.
We are pleased to see that the budget includes funds for increased recycling facilities, although we believe that it is a mistake not to include adequate and easily accessible facilities for recycling batteries and light globes. Similarly, we welcome the funding to continue successful street-level recycling in Civic. However, we are still waiting for a very overdue expansion into other town centres.
The Greens welcome the carbon neutral schools strategy and increased funding to make our schools greener through practical measures such as improved lighting efficiency and thermal resistant glass. We have long called for better data collection regarding the government’s commitment to the carbon neutral school system by 2017, and it is pleasing to see that these calls have partially been heeded, with the announcement of new monitoring systems in public schools.
Finding an explicit commitment to women in this budget is difficult. It has been some time since the ACT budget has had a dedicated women’s statement, and while I recognise the government’s plan to address women’s issues across the whole of government, I am concerned that we are losing sight of the very real inequities still evident for many women here in the ACT.
There has been a commitment to equal pay for the community sector, which is predominantly a women’s issue because it predominantly employs women. I also note that the money for low income earners will be welcomed by many women in Canberra. However, I will be very interested to see in estimates how the government is really ensuring that equity and support for Canberra women are being addressed.
In arts, the Greens certainly welcome the funding for the capital upgrades of the various Canberra arts facilities: $2 million for the Tuggeranong Arts Centre; $3.1 million for the Canberra Theatre Centre; and a $300,000 feasibility study for stage 2 of the Belconnen Arts Centre. While the arts will certainly benefit, we note that these projects are in the construction industry rather than in the arts themselves.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video